IceCap Asset Management: "Straight From The Horse's Mouth"

While the first round of bailouts started with the banks themselves, the next round spread to the very same countries who bailed out the banks to start with. Fast forward (a mere 2 years) to today and Greece, Ireland and Portugal are now showing the fissures within the European system. The next round of bailouts has the potential to crack the fissures wide open. So, here we go with round 3 of European bailouts which will consist of bailing out Greece, then Ireland and then Portugal yet again. Yes, this is the classic definition of insanity at its best. The risk now however with round 3 is that the Greeks have now informally played the “we’re leaving the Euro” card. The Irish and the Portuguese will watch closely to see if the Greeks get what they want. If the Greeks are successful (and they will be), the Irish and the Portuguese will demand even better terms for their bailouts. We do not blame anyone for becoming dizzy with this ongoing story. All you need to know is that the ride may continue for a while longer, yet at some point, someone will leave the Euro. And when this door opens, the rush to the exits may surprise everyone.

Straight from the horse's mouth. Fucking Mr Ed's mouth. More if's, when's and maybe's. " may continue for a while?" yet at some point"."may surprise everyone?" My five year old could have told you that shit.

Although horse #'s 1, 2, 3, & 5 have compelling arguments, I'm putting my money on horse #4! Heed horse #4's words and act as if your government and central bank are planning on leaving you as the fall guy; because that IS their plan.

The more someone believes in their government or central bank to keep their currency sound, the more profound their ultimate loss will be.....

Follow the link below to find out why the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange must be seen and understood as an extension of the Chinese government and its long term goals, and consequently, why it will not help create an equitable or realistic price discovery mechanism for gold. Not for now anyway.

All i am saying is that the queen was over recently having a carefully co-ordinated visit, in Ireland, she spent a week here with a view to healing perceived old wounds, the first visit by a monarch in 100 years! She was well received too. With her came Cameron and William Hague, both of whom wrote articles in irish papers espousing the benefits of trade and even closer relationships going forward.

All i can assume is that Ireland are going to re-peg to the pound ASAP, and with it, ending the bullying by the ECB, and stick two fingers up at the whole sorry episode. Anyone know how one would go about positioning for that? (Apart from shorting the euro) I just have a gut feeling it's about to happen.

An interesting scenario. I would suggest, though, that if the Irish were to go back to Britain, it would be Euro positive and Pound negative.

If the Europeans could get one of those monkeys off their backs with the UK picking up the tab for the transfer, then it would be a joyous day in Brussels, I think. One would have to consider blowback and the domino effect because, undoubtedly, the Portuguese and Italians would find a way to complain about some unfair treatment or other.

What you may find, instead, is a whole bunch of coordinated moves coming all at once, so the net effect of one of them will be relatively muted. For instance, the Irish could re-align with the Brits, the Greeks would default and peg the new drachma, while the ECB will say that they will basically monetise the debt of Portugal, Italy and Spain- just this one time (wink, wink...)- all in one gulp.

4X traders would be shell-shocked that day, I tell you. Taken as a whole, it wouldn't surprise me if the volatile swings in currencies would be where they started before the announcement, once all the dust settles. Now, that would be a vol trade in a roundabout!

2 bills making the rounds of Congress will essentially confiscate IRA and 401k balances. Might even wind up as an Executive Order. Be worried, guys and gals. Either cash them out for the penalty or take loans using them as collateral.

2 bills making the rounds of Congress will essentially confiscate IRA and 401k balances. Might even wind up as an Executive Order. Be worried, guys and gals. Either cash them out for the penalty or take loans using them as collateral.

2 bills making the rounds of Congress will essentially confiscate IRA and 401k balances. Might even wind up as an Executive Order. Be worried, guys and gals. Either cash them out for the penalty or take loans using them as collateral.

In the event of a sale of land from any of the Thorsson Capital properties to any Zero Hedge reader, the vendor (Thorsson Capital) hereby pledges a donation of 1% of the total sale to Zero Hedge, said donation is to be made within 30 working days of settlement.

The song and dance can go on as long as substantial uncertainty remains about the cost and consequences of direct bailouts. Until then the ECB and IMF will lean towards indirect bailouts which carry in the costs for continued profligate spending by the Greek government, only marginally (and probably counter-productively) offset by any State asset liquidations. The sheer stupidity lies in not figuring out how much the damn gorilla in the room actually weighs so that a suitable round can be developed to kill it.